Metallic railroad-tie



(No Model.)

G. W THOMPSON. METALLIC RAILROAD TIE.

No. 394,738. Patented D60. 18, 1888.

n llv INVENTOR: Juwm WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

thick, more or less, the opposite edges of said I UNITED STATES GEORGE XV. THOMPSON, OF

PATENT OEEIcE.

SAG HARBOR, NEXT YORK.

METALLIC RAILROAD=TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,738, dated December 18, 1888.

Application filed February 21, 1888. Serial No. 264,76'7.e (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. 'lHoMPsoN, of Sag Harbor, in the county of Suffolk and State of New Yorlghave invented a new and 4 Improved Attaclnnent for illetallic Railroad Ties, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Myinvention is an im n-ovemeni' in the class of metallic tubular ties having bearing-blocks arranged within them for supporting their top portions when a train is passing over the rails laid thereon. lleretofore such bearing-blocks have been made longer than the distance between the heads of the bolts that secure the rails to the tie, and have also been provided with openings to receive the heads of such bolts. The ties to which such blocks were applied were necessarily made open on the under side to enable the rail-bolts to be inserted through the openings in the blocks.

In my invention the bottom of the tie is closed,.or nearly so, and the bearing-blocks are put in place by inserting them in the ends of the ties after the inner bolts have been applied. Theheads of both the innerand outer 1 bolts abut the sides of said blocks, and thus hold them in position.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction of the railway-tie and rail connections and supports, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a plan view of a section of a railway-track laid upon my improved ties,which are broken away at their central parts. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken 011 the line 00 :r, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken 011 the line 1 1/, Fig. 2, and showsthe parts they would be seen in the direction of the arrows; and Figs. 5 and Gare detail views, which will be hereinafter particularly referred to.

The main body of my improved railroadtie consists of a tube, A, which is preferably of rectangular cross-sectional form, produced by bending four times at right angles arolled metal plate about two feet wide,seven feet long or longer, and about three-eighths of an inch plate meeting or nearly meeting at the lower side and longitudinal center of the tube,which is about seven inches wide, five inches hig and seven feet long.

The railway-rails B B of a track are held to the solid or unbroken tops of the ties by rolled or wrought metal chair-plates O, which are placed in pairs opposite each other on each tie and at the opposite sides of the rails, and are fixed by bolts D to the ties, and so that horizontal or nearly horizontal flanges or lips c 0, formed at the inner edges of each pair of chair-plates O C, overlap the opposite baseflanges, I) b, of the rails and securely bind them to each tie, as clearly shown in the drawings.

The bolts D are passed upward through the top of the tie and the chair-plates thereon, and the heads (Z of the bolts rest against the under side of the tie top plate. The parts (1 of the bolts which pass through the tie and chairplates are made square or flat-sided to prevent turning of them, and the upper parts of the bolts which project above the chair-plates are made round and are threaded to receive nuts (1 which are tightened upon the chair-plates to bind the ties, the rails, and the chair-plates together in one substantial structure along the road-bed, which may be of earth, sand, gravel, or coal-dust, or may be a bridge, trestle, or other support, and the ties maybe ballasted or not, as may be desirable or necessary.

I utilize the heads (I of the bolts D of each pair of chair-plates O O on every tie as lateg'al supports or braces to hold bearersE within the tubular ties and directlybelow the railway-rails. These bearers are applied as follows: After the inner chairp] ate O- of each pair of plates is fastened to the tie by its pair of bolts D, the bearer E will be slipped into the end of the tie and up snugly to the heads of this pair of bolts, and when the rail B and outer chair-plate C are put in place the pair ofbolts D to hold this outer plate will be applied, and so that their heads fit snugly against the outer face of the bearer, which will thus be held secure against displacement to give effective support to the tubular tie where the rail crosses it, and thus largely increase the durability of the ties and rails and the entire road-bed. These bearers E, which are preferably made of cast metal, are fitted fairly at the edges to the inner faces or walls of the tubu- IOO bearers be made narrower, the bolt-heads (I will be elongated at the inside, so as to bear fairly at opposite sides of the bearer, as shown at the right-hand side of Figs. 3 and 4- and from the detail views, liig's. 5 and (i. The bolt fl), having an elongated head, (i, is shown in Fig. 5,while Fig. (3 shows in larger seale than the other views such a bolt as applied to the tie, chair-plate, and bearer. These elonthereby support them in place, as shown and deseribei'l.

one piece with the bodies or stemsot' thebolts or they may be made separate, and as nut- P plates, to screw onto the lower ends of the 1 bolts, as will readily be nni'lerstood.

gated bolt-heads (7, forming lateral supports to the bearer-blocks, may either be made in Railroad-ties made and sup iorting the rails as above described may be set about three feet apart from 'eenter to eenter, or much iarth er apart than ordinary wood ties, and will be far more durable even when not eoated with eoal-tar or other rust-preyentingeompositiomwhieh maybe done to inerease the d urability of the ties and road-bed.

Having thus deseribed my in veuivionarhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with the rails l elips and the tubular metallie tie A, haying'a flat bottom, of the n arrowliearing' bloeksE,whieh are set crosswise within the tie beneath said rails, and the bolts I), inserted through the ties and having rectangular heads (I, which' bear against the sides of said bloeks and I GEORGE W. 'JIIOM'ISON.

Witnesses: BERNARDO LYON,

JOHN M. .HILDRETH. 

